Man Booker Shortlist for Fiction

Today the shortlist for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced, culled from an original longlist of thirteen. The six finalists are listed below. The winner will be announced at a dinner in London's Guildhall on October 6th and announced simultaneously on BBC radio and television.

• AS Byatt, The Children's Book
• JM Coetzee, Summertime
• Adam Foulds, The Quickening Maze
• Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
• Simon Mawer, The Glass Room
• Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger

As of today, only The Little Stranger is available for purchase in the US. The books by Byatt and Mantel will publish in this country in October, and the Coetzee book will be available in December. Of course, scheduled publishing dates are subject to change.

Coetzee is a two-time previous winner of the Booker, and Byatt has won once before. Last year's winner was The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga. The Booker Prize for Fiction was first awarded in 1969. You can read more about the Man Booker Prize and interviews with the authors on the longlist here.